The US-based hospitality sector analytics provider STR announced a 5.7% year-on-year (YoY) dip in the volume of rooms in the underway projects’ final phase in the Middle East region last October, with Egypt coming last on the high performers list for having 4,976 keys underway, marking 2.9% of existing supply, Invest-Gate reports.

Coming up shortly after Mideast hotels posted a drop in revenue per available room (RevPAR) and average daily rates (ADR), merely 434 hotels, with 119,991 rooms, are under construction in the Middle East, whilst Africa has 135 hotels underway, comprising 24,939 keys, STR’s October 2019 hotel pipeline data for the Middle East and Africa regions showed on November 14.

“The [Middle East] region reported an additional 28,541 rooms in the final planning stage and 45,273 rooms in planning,” read the company’s press release, noting that the Africa room construction total was down 4% YoY, showing 18,807 and 22,629 keys in the final planning and planning stages, respectively.

Between the Middle East and Africa, five nations bestowed more than 4,000 hotel rooms in progress, with the UAE leading the way with 52,810 keys, representing 30.1% of the market’s existing supply. The latter is followed by Saudi Arabia with 38,912 rooms, accounting for 38.3% of existing supply, according to STR.